Papers by Kirsi Niinimäki
Trash-2-Cash is an EU funded project under the Horizon 2020 research programme that started in Ju... more Trash-2-Cash is an EU funded project under the Horizon 2020 research programme that started in June 2015 and will be running until November 2018. The project is applying Design-Driven Material Innovation (DDMI) as tool for the development routes within design, material research and manufacturing of new materials, services and products. The overall objective of the Trash-2- Cash project is to develop new materials and products via creative design from waste materials and industrial side or by-products from the textile and paper industries and to promote development within the creative sector by providing technology solutions for exploitation of waste streams and design for recycling. 18 partners, from 10 countries have formed a cross- disciplinary team of designers, material researchers, and manufacturers and in combination with the specialist on behavioural research and cost and environmental assessments they constitute the full consortium. Having all of these specialists on board m...
Introduction The clothing industry currently begs for innovation to better support sustainable de... more Introduction The clothing industry currently begs for innovation to better support sustainable development. Fashion (newness and change) makes sustainable design principles like durability seem naïve in the context of clothing (Fletcher, 2012). Alternative methods that permit consumers to continue to utilize clothing to meet psychosocial needs like self-expression without harmful environmental consequences must be identified. Product-service systems (PSS) may provide a key conduit for revenue generation as well as value creation for a new business model that does not create environmental poverties. Yet, to be effective for large-scale development, the PSS must be responsive to the human experience with clothing, empathically developing concepts responsive to human needs. However, the viability of PSS to support sustainable development in real terms has recently come under scrutiny as another potential utopian theory for sustainability.
This paper presents a study of how people form attachments to clothing. The aesthetic dimension i... more This paper presents a study of how people form attachments to clothing. The aesthetic dimension is a fundamental attribute when consumers are forming product attachment. Yet the concept of beauty in clothing can be approached through a social, cultural and temporal context and in a multi- sensorial way. Furthermore positive experiences, memories, family ties, expressions of self, promises of future experiences, and emotions are essential characteristics that allow consumers to construct an attachment to clothes. In addition certain design styles, colors and materials enable sustainable attachments to form. The notion of sustainable attachment includes reflective dimensions, which can lead to a more discursive engagement with clothing. The study explores these issues and creates arguments for sustainable attachments based on an online consumer questionnaire conducted in Finland in 2009. In this study a table has been constructed which summarizes sustainable product attachments to clo...
Sustainability
The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industrial sectors in the world and its environ... more The fashion industry is one of the most polluting industrial sectors in the world and its environmental impacts are huge. Garments are produced effectively at a low price, are of low quality, and are used for a very short time before ending up in increasing textile waste streams. One critical aspect in this context is the lifetime of a garment. Short garment lifetimes are the results of low quality and consumer dissatisfaction, or consumers’ constant search for newness, resulting in the early disposal of garments. This study focused on the issue of garment quality and how it can be connected to product lifetime. The research used a case study approach, including company interviews about working for quality, and aimed to expand on the topic of how quality impacts product lifetimes. Data analysis was conducted according to the principles of descriptive analysis and the discussion expanded to the circular economy context, creating an extended understanding of garment quality in a circu...
Journal of Fashion Marketing and Management: An International Journal
PurposeExtending the active lifetimes of garments by producing better quality is a widely discuss... more PurposeExtending the active lifetimes of garments by producing better quality is a widely discussed strategy for reducing environmental impacts of the garment industry. While quality is an important aspect of clothing, the concept of quality is ambiguous, and, moreover, consumers may perceive quality in individual ways. Therefore, it is important to deepen the general understanding regarding the quality of clothing.Design/methodology/approachThis paper presents an integrated literature review of the recent discussion of perceived quality of clothing and of the links between quality and clothing lifetimes; 47 selected articles and other literature obtained primarily through fashion/clothing/apparel journals were included in this review.FindingsThe main ideas from the articles are thematized into the following sections: the process of assessment, levels involved in assessment, multidimensional cues of assessment, and quality and clothing use times. The paper highlights that perceiving...
This paper reports on preliminary results on the recycling of coloured cellulose-based textiles u... more This paper reports on preliminary results on the recycling of coloured cellulose-based textiles using a novel dry-jet wet spinning denoted as the Ioncell-F process. The practical possibility of colour circulation is useful knowledge for colour designers in the industry. The findings can help define further parameters for circular economy products.
A Modern Guide to the Urban Sharing Economy
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Papers by Kirsi Niinimäki